Album Review: Abazagorath

Other than the fact that it is quite fun to say the name “Abazagorath” you won’t find too much that is rainbows and puppy dogs when it comes to these State side black metal legends. As you know I don’t throw the term legend around loosely so let me back it up before we take a look at their newest self-titled EP.

I say legend because even as someone that is relatively new to the Black Metal scene I knew exactly who Abazagorath was when the EP crossed my desk. Having founded in 1994, I would be lying to say I knew instantly who they were when I was graduating from high school, but when their 1997 “Tenebrarum Cadent Exsurgemus” came out the metal heads in my area were eating up the sheer viciousness of it. Turns out many experts in the field feel this album was a milestone in the early United States Black Metal movement.

Years ago I may not have described it accurately, but I easily remember the assault on your senses combined with the eeriness the band appears to pride itself on. When you talk about underground bands, these guys have the reputation and cult status that allows a band to be legendary outside of the mainstream.

The new self-titled EP is being called a sort of second coming for the band, but I would compare it to finding an old jacket you love and fitting back into it perfectly. The band isn’t doing anything new to me in this EP although when the music comes across as this fearsome and legitimate, that is something new in today’s market.

A track I want to look at is “The Antigod.” The beginning is marked with confusion and if it makes any sense the instruments seem cohesive yet they stand out on their own. With a very eerie subtext the vocals come in and you would swear they are from Satan himself. At 1:50 there is an awesome jamming spot that proves the chops of the band that leads to even more powerful vocals.

That blow by blow account of “The Antigod” is precisely what you as the listener will be doing to all the songs on this rebirth album. The violence of each and every one of them needs to be analyzed in order to devour everything Abazagorath is trying to tell you.

Black metal that draws you into the experience is rare these days, but the entire EP is crafted to do just that. When all is said and done you will look back at songs like “Immortals” and realize what the future and the past of Black Metal should be… then you will quickly hit repeat!